The Importance Of Prioritizing in Our Hectic Lives
I’m (perhaps sad to say) a nearly lifelong Mets fan.
It is their fault they weren’t around in 1953 when I was born, not mine, hence the “nearly”. Fan since 1962.
My primary focus currently is on how the Mets are or are not doing, what decisions they make, etc.
My second focus is their minor leaguers ( the minors are actually doing much better this year despite their #1 and #2 prospects playing IL Hookie Ball for virtually the entire season), and Mauricio with his ill-timed knee tear.
A very distant third focus of mine?
How the rest of baseball is doing.
I’d probably look more closely at other teams, except when the Mets flounder and severely underperform and I have no vested interest in how other teams are going, since it becomes more and more likely that we won’t catch the teams we need to catch to make the playoffs. I then zone out. I don’t WANT to see other teams’ players succeed when I am stuck with the NY Failures.
Understand for a second that without including the absolutely unexpected Reed Garrett 5-1 season start, the Mets heading into Friday were otherwise 15-28…bringing me back to those early 1960s Mets teams.
So…I will pause for a few seconds and go into Priority 3 a bit, and see what’s going on outside of Metsville, relative to the suffering players of Metsville.
In that regard, I decided to look at MLB stats on pitchers on Thursday.
I see this:
MLB.com has a list of qualifying starters. Adrian Houser is not on it.
Houser (he of the 7.88 Mets ERA) falls somewhat short of sufficient innings to “qualify”.
But he’d be the worst in ERA if he qualified. By far.
The worst ERA for a qualifier is Patrick Corbin at 6.19. The second worst is Aaron Civale at 5.92. So that Houser 7.88 is brutal.
No doubt you are wondering who owns the 8th worst ERA out of the 77 qualifiers, at 5.13. You realize this is a set-up question.
Yes, the name of #8 from the bottom of 77 qualifiers is Jose Quintana….maybe you’ve heard of him.
On the “ace” side of the ledger, on another team in the NL East, naturally, is the Phillies’ Ranger Suarez, who is 9-0, 1.84. If I was paying more attention to priority 3, I would have known that.
And 2024’s two Japanese imported aces (Imanaga and Yamamoto) are a combined 10-1. Not shabby.
The batting leader of baseball is also Japanese, Shohei Ohtani. Shabby-free.
None of those 3, however, would sign with the Mets. Wisdom. Why sign with Avis when you can go with Hertz.
We do have one Japanese hurler, Kodai Senga, who has a perfect ERA because he’s thrown no innings, as he tries to get his mechanics right.
No rush, take your time, Kodai. “OK, my mechanics are good now.” “That’s great, but it’s November.”
The Mets signed a fifth Japanese player Shintaro Fujinami, who of course leads all of pro baseball in lack of command.
In AAA, 26 runners allowed in 7.2 innings. 17 walks and 2 hit batsmen. Steve Blass feels better now. Someone wilder than him.
Maybe I’ll look more at hitting around the rest of the majors soon, or maybe I will assume that will be equally depressing to a Mets fan.
It’s not my first or second priority, so maybe I’ll skip it. Feel free to look yourself, if you’d like.
Thursday in the minors, the struggling Justin Jarvis came in and was truly sensational for Binghamton. 5.2 IP, 2 hits, 0 runs, 10 Ks. Mike Vasil was much improved in his 5+, and pen ace Eric Orze had had a great 5 out save, fanning 4. Blade Tidwell also had a very solid AAA debut.
Wyatt Young and his biggest fan (photo: Richard Nelson)
I have had a dearth of recent write ups on Wyatt Young, after his unexpectedly fine first full pro year was followed by an unexpectedly bad 2023. But 32 AA games in 2024, a .287 average, and a stellar .419 OBP is a welcome rebound.
That .419 OBP makes Wyatt the Eastern league OBP leader. (Applause here).
Defensively, he has very low-error chops:
0 errors in 17 SS games,
0 errors in 10 games at 2nd, and
2 errors in 5 games at third.
Syracuse’s roster is jammed so he seems stuck in AA for now.
And Klubbing Kevin Parada inched back above .200, at .207, with much improved recent hitting (a 7 game hit streak). At the start of that streak, he was buried at .177. Now 6 HRs and 24 RBIs in 140 at bats. Maybe he has found that elusive light switch.
Lastly, Doug Orellana in Brooklyn has a1.06 ERA??? 46 Ks in 34 IP. Wow. Last 6 outings, 25.2 IP, 32 Ks, 2 R, 14 hits.
Might he be promoted to AA soon?
9 comments:
Just when you think it can't get worse last night happens OMG! I really can't remember a worse week with 3 games in which we hit 3 hrs and lost all 3 and blowing two 4 run leads and even Stevie is dumbfounded. What to do what to do and surely Mack is thinking about a super Sunday post as we speak right Mack? I do hate the "are we in it or not" question we seem to run into far to often at his point in the season but usually it's June. Blow it up is already here I guess as Stevie tried to buy a winner but only got 1 playoff win and we of course are paying dearly with poor draft position under the luxury tax as JV will certainly pitch less than 140 innings to help us out right LOL. At least Scott pitched well and please keep Mark in the lineup EVERYDAY!
Gary, oddly, the hitting is clearly awakening, Mark helps. Peterson will be back very soon to join Megill, and Houser should go to pen (or be released) and Quintana or Peterson to pen. Quintana has relieved 26 times in his career, 47 innings, low 3s ERA.
I, however, am increasingly annoyed with our expected ace Senga. Sir, there is a SEASON GOING ON. You were supposed to be our ace. You got hurt over 3 months ago, let’s stop this delay and get back here. You’re taking $$ under false pretenses.
And Diaz has to man up. So you blew a few games, get back in the 9th inning spot or give the Mets a partial refund. They signed you to elite CLOSER $$. Let’s go.
The Mets keep giving me fodder for my next post.
I don’t want a full blown sell off. Last year we learned that if they tried, they might have succeeded. Hence, a half sell off. Whoever has real value, trade. Whoever doesn’t, hang onto and try. Don’t buy and send too draft picks for marginal players. Also, trade for pitching. Don’t want more hitting prospects. The Royals last year got Regans from the Rangers AA team and he has already become their ace. Scout your butt off and know the other teams’ systems enough to know the talented players. Go after them. I don’t want any position players at all.
Gus, I agree….unless we get Soto this off season. We’ll discuss that when the time comes.
Can we trade for Senga? The one who actually pitches? Not the one we have?
Ray the Eviscerator.
Well, unfortunately your request has been denied. According to GameDay, Vientos is NOT in the line up. Gotta get Baty going I guess. What more can the guy do to play everyday?
Baty can play every day - in AAA. My guess is he's sat a bit, let's see if that sparks him. I have an open mind. but limited patience at this point. I wonder what calling up Jose Iglesias might due to his salary - is he minor/major differential? If the Mets do have strong thoughts of getting below the cap, they have to watch every penny.
Jon, on Wyatt Young, one could make a case for calling him up. Here it is:
He started the cold season cold: 3 for 17 and 2 walks in his first 5 games.
Since then, in 27 games, he has hit .333 with 4 HRs in 84 at bats and been on base 22 more with walks and HBPs. So, in his last 106 times up, he has been on base 50 times. What's wrong with that? Nothing, I'd say.
He fields well at 2nd, SS, and 3B.
And...he is in AA but wouldn't be skipping over AAA to get to Queens, as he has already played 61 career games in AAA and hit .273 there. Doubt they'll do it, but they could.
What does Baty have over Young? Height and power. But Wyatt is scorching.
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